BROADCASTING IN HAUSA

Liberty television and radio will stand the test of time, reckons

The emergence of Kaduna-based Liberty television was probably matter of time: on the back of the success of its sister brand – the Liberty Radio, which has within four years carved out huge audience equity, taking a bold step into the realm of visual broadcast was inevitable. Consequently, on September 1, 2014, Liberty Television started transmission on leading pay TV platform, the Startime on Channel 180, with a sharp penetration into a large Hausa linguistic base that has suffered gross inattention and absence of critical and boisterous news and current affairs platform.

Liberty Television, broadcasting 70 per cent in Hausa and 30 per cent in English, may not be the first private TV Station from Northern Nigeria, but it is certainly the first with territorial ambitions and undisguised mission to conquer a market that spreads across Nigeria and much of West Africa, and indeed parts of Central Africa and the Sudan.

Thus far Liberty TV’s approach to becoming the leading provider of news and current affairs in Hausa Language has been strategic. It started out broadcasting to Kaduna -based audience for four months after which it went national on Wednesday, 24 February, 2015.

Dr. Ahmed Tijjani Ramalan, Executive Chairman of ATAR Communication Nigeria Limited, owners of Liberty Television, is besotted to the moment the station broke boundaries: “Going network will remain indelible in the history of Liberty Television as our station was received across the nation”.

His testimony: “that would turn out to be on our flagship morning belt programme called Tambari, which starts at 7 a.m. The flurry of calls from Lagos to Sokoto, Abuja, Kano, Ibadan, Onitsha, Cabalar, etc., by Nigerians, especially of Northern extraction and those linguistically adept at Hausa, our main medium, was undoubtedly overwhelming. Clearly, the programme’s presenters were hardly ready for the barrage of calls that characterised the four – hour belt”, said Ramalan.

Interestingly more than 90 per cent of the call- ers were watching Liberty Television for the first time and had never had the opportunity to join in on live television political conversation in Hausa that included newspaper reviews, short interviews, entertainment, opinions, weather report, development report, etc. Callers included men and women, business people, public servants, students, artisans, lawyers, doctors, journalists, politicians, amongst several other demographics.

Liberty Television and its older sibling – Liberty Radio, share unique circumstances at take off. The radio berthed in the throes of the 2011 general elections with its attendant post-election violence, public unrest and incessant curfews. Providentially, Liberty Radio was the only private broadcaster around with the courage and temerity to sustain 24 hours broadcast, ably reporting the tense political situation and effort of government and other shareholders at restoring peace to Kaduna State and indeed parts of the North caught in the web of the crises. Four years after, Liberty Radio has become about the most outstanding audio platform North of the Niger, having etched a pedigree in News and analysis, current affairs, culture, sport, entertainment, business, and importantly, it is always a phone call away from Nigeria’s most distinguishing political figures across party, religious and ethnic divides. To borrow a leaf from one of Nigeria’s leading newspapers selling point at inception, Liberty Radio is on “speaking terms with the nation’s leaders.”

As a filling, the 2015 general elections couldn’t have been more generous to Liberty Television. For the first time on live television the Hausa speaking political class basked in robust discourse about the elections, the office seekers, governance, development, “Bread and Butter,’ et al. There was instant connection from a wide range of audience who inundated the station with calls, email and interacted via other social media platforms from as far as Asia, Europe and the United States of America.

Liberty Television’s approach to maintaining its bearing is also unique as it has perfected the art of Multi – Cast - Broadcasting select

Ahmed Ramalan

programmes simultaneously to audio, visual and online audiences, albeit seamlessly: conveniently going a tasking integration process of its staff, which entailed professional multi – task – honing everyone to understand radio and television operations. With correspondents in more than 30 states in Nigeria, and in Cameroun, Niger, Ghana, and the Sudan, all reporting in Hausa, the Liberty Radio and TV platforms offer the first such broadcasting media penetration by an indigenous private operator.

Indeed a survey has indicated that the advent of Liberty TV on the Startimes bouquet has helped in the sales of latter’s decoders in most states of the North as more people, thirsty for culture content beyond Kannywood’s movies and music seek, vigorous news and current affairs platform that puts faces to the voices of politicians, leaders, intelligentsia, activists, and a host of other stakeholders. To this end Liberty TV, it would appear, has only just begun.

Nevertheless, there is a solid team of tested personnel, aided by a swathe of new talents to accomplish the mission. Toyin Alabi, a former director of programmes with newage network, Kaduna and station manager of kiss Fm, Abuja, leads the pack. As general manager, Toyin, who had also worked with the FRCN for 20 years, is saddled with the administration of Liberty Radio and Tv, in addition to anchoring the award winning radio programme “Issues and Events” and “Fireworks” – a no-holds-barred interview segment on Liberty TV.

James Arthur Brooks, multi-disciplinary – photographer, artist, studio expert, of British descent, is the coordinator of Liberty Television. Initially from the University of Liverpool, United Kingdom, Brooks has taught film production at the Television College, Jos, Nigeria.

There’s also the veteran Sani Hassan Muhammad, who has spent 25 years with the Nigeria Television Authority (NTA) and was a supervising manager at the NTA Plus, Abuja, and is now programmes supervisor at Liberty TV.

Liberty TV studios is headed by Rashid Oniyangi, a former chief technology officer of ICS Triple Tech Limited, who has recently returned from the United States of America, enabling Liberty Television to deploy relevant technology and ensure smooth switch over to digitalization; in addition, Oniyangi harnesses all ICT assets of the Radio and TV Stations.

Liberty TV’s flagship morning belt programme – Tambari, is a star cast, a fusion of young, vibrant presenters, notably Mohammed Iskeel Abdullahi, a former BBC (British Broadcasting Corporation) correspondent, and Hassan Faruk Usman, poached from the Vision FM, Abuja and indeed the legendary Mahmoon Baba Ahmed, who has put in more than 25 years at the FRCN and is also a one-time Managing Director of the Kaduna State Broadcasting Corporation (KSMC); a young Turk, Shafiu Suleiman, pulled from the African Independent Television (AIT) heads the News and Current Affairs Department.

Certainly, for Liberty TV, the digital switch-over or analog switch off, which deadline is June 2015, has become the driving force of its technical operations. It achieved national transmission on the StarTime Cable Network through 100 per cent digital processes, using Digital Video Terrestrial Standard which enables it send its signals to the StarTime, Abuja base Station for National Distribution on the strength of broadband internet.

Dr. Ramalan, the Executive Chairman, says both Liberty TV and Liberty Radio have a great future and will stand the test of time, “as they were founded on the tenets of free speech, a guaranteed voice for all and the necessity to partner with Nigerian citizens to create an egalitarian society”.

Dr. Ramalan, who serves as the chairman, Northern Broadcast Media Owners Forum (NBMOA), contends that the broadcast media in the country will become more competitive with the impending switch over, and will provide Nigerians, especially from the creative sector, more work to in content development – which, he adds, “is critical to telling the African story by Africans.” Dr. Ramalan is the executive chairman of Liberty TV and Radio